Jesse Marsch Reportedly Hired as New York Red Bulls Head Coach
By Phil Naegely
The soccer world never sleeps. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, reports surfaced that NYRB head coach Mike Petke had been fired. It sent the soccer world into confusion and many scratching their head. Petke had been a successful coach and his firing came as a shock. With a new technical director, Ali Curtis, in charge it appears they wanted to head in a new direction as the news was made official this morning. Empire of Soccer is now reporting that Mike Petke’s successor will be Jesse Marsch.
More from MLS
- Coming to America – a game-changer by the name of Lionel Messi
- Lionel Messi set to join MLS side Inter Miami
- Canadian MLS clubs split points in Matchweek 5
- Herrera aims to erase memories of injury-prone debut season
- Matchday 4 Canadian MLS recap
While he doesn’t boast an impressive record, Marsh has some coaching experience. He led the Impact to a 12-16-6 record in 2012 and also served as an assistant with the US Men’s National Team program for three years. Additionally, he’s had his hand within the league office doing work specifically in the media operations department. This is worth noting because Curtis work for the league office before being hired with the Red Bulls. It appears Curtis wanted to choose his own coach and someone who has worked in a similar environment as him.
While Petke was successful with New York, he was former Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh’s guy not Curtis’ hand picked coach. However, it seems that Marsh would be Curtis’ preference as coach and someone he feels he can work with. Petke brought the Red Bulls their first hardware with the 2013 Supporters’ Shield and the 2014 campaign led to a playoff berth as well.
Live Feed
MLS Multiplex
However, all signs point to the Red Bulls front office wanting a change on the coaching side. Empire of Soccer is also reporting that Petke’s assistant coach, Robin Fraser, will be joining the staff of Toronto FC. Therefore, Fraser’s reported exit completes a complete makeover for the club. While it seems foolish for Curtis to flip around the coaching staff a week before the draft, there may have been issues between Petke and Curtis. At the same time, Marsh, or whoever the next ends up being, will have their work cut out this coming week between the MLS Combine and the 2015 SuperDraft in Philadelphia on January 15th.
All in all, Curtis appears to want known alliances within the coaching system and will be interesting to see what other moves he makes in his first year as Sporting Director. One thing is for sure, the fans aren’t too pleased about losing their beloved Mike Petke, but should give a fair chance to whoever is the next head coach of the New York Red Bulls.